Pittsburgh Steelers 41st US football season
The 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 41st season in the National Football League . The team finished second in the AFC Central division, but qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Steelers got off to a terrific start winning eight of their first nine games. However, a costly three game losing streak would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Steelers would recover to win their last two games, but had to settle for a Wild Card berth with a 10–4 record. The Steelers would lose in the playoffs to the Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Oakland.
The 1973 Steelers' pass defense is arguably the greatest in the history of the NFL. Their defensive passer rating—the quarterback passer rating of all opposing quarterbacks throughout the season—was 33.1, an NFL record for the Super Bowl era.
According to Cold Hard Football Facts:[ 1]
Pittsburgh's pass-defense numbers that year were stunning. Opposing passers compiled the following stat-line:
164 of 359 (45.7%) for 1,923 yards, 5.36 [yards-per-attempt], 11 [touchdowns] and 37 [interceptions] The figure that leaps screaming off the sheet is the amazing 37 picks in 14 games. The 2009 Jets , by comparison, allowed a puny 8 TDs in 16 games, but hauled in just 17 picks.
Pittsburgh's all-time best pass defense was an equal-opportunity unit: Mike Wagner led the team with 8 INT, but 10 other guys recorded at least one pick. Amazing. Eleven defenders boasted at least one INT for Pittsburgh that season. The entire starting secondary recorded 24 picks alone, and Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount was last on the list: Wagner (8), safety Glen Edwards (6), cornerback John Rowser (6) and Blount (4).
The campaign was chronicled in Roy Blount Jr. 's 1974 book About Three Bricks Shy of a Load . The source of its title was Craig Hanneman whose endearing description of himself and his teammates after the regular season away victory over the Oakland Raiders was "We’re all about three bricks shy of a load."[ 2]
Team Rd Pick Name Pos College PIT 1 24 J.T. Thomas DB Florida St. PIT 2 50 Ken Phares DB Mississippi St. PIT 3 76 Roger Bernhardt G Kansas PIT 4 102 Gail Clark LB Michigan St. PIT 5 106 Dave Reavis T Arkansas PIT 5 128 Larry Clark LB Northern Illinois PIT 6 140 Ron Bell RB Illinois St. PIT 6 154 Glenn Scolnik WR Indiana PIT 7 180 Nate Dorsey WR Miss Valley St. PIT 8 192 Loren Toews LB California PIT 8 206 Bill Janssen T Nebraska PIT 9 232 Bracey Bonham G North Carolina Central PIT 10 258 Don Wunderly DT Arkansas PIT 11 284 Bob White DB Arizona PIT 12 310 Willie Lee RB Indiana St. PIT 13 336 Rick Fergerson WR Kansas St. PIT 14 362 Roger Cowan DE Stanford PIT 15 388 Charles Cross DB Iowa PIT 16 414 Glen Nardi DT Navy PIT 17 440 Mike Shannon DT Oregon St.
1973 Pittsburgh Steelers staff Front office
President – Arthur J. Rooney Vice president – John R. McGinley Vice president – Daniel M. Rooney Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr. Public relations director – Ed Kiely Traveling secretary – James A. Boston Controller – Robert P. Quinn Publicity director – Joe Gordon Ticket manager – Joseph H. Carr Director of player personnel – Dick Haley Assistant director of player personnel – Bill Nunn Director of professional scouting – V. Timothy Rooney Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches
Strength and conditioning
Strength – Louis Riecke Flexibility – Paul Uram Team physician, orthopedic – Dr. John Best Team Physician, M.D. – Dr. David S. Huber Team dentist – Dr. Robert Gray Trainer – Ralph Berlin Assistant trainer – Robert Milie Equipment manager – Anthony Parisi Field manager – Jack Hart [ 3]
1973 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen Defensive linemen
Linebackers Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists Practice squad
[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] Rookies in italics 46 active, 1 inactive, 1 practice squad
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP DET PIT 2 Steelers 11-yard field goal by Roy Gerela 0 3 3 Steelers Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 0 10 3 Lions Jessie 84-yard touchdown reception from Landry , Mann kick good 7 10 3 Lions 40-yard field goal by Mann 10 10 4 Steelers McMakin 24-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good 10 17 4 Steelers Shanklin 6-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good 10 24 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 10 24
Cleveland Browns (1–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1–0)
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Browns 3 0 0 3 6 Steelers 10 6 10 7 33
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP CLE PIT 1 Steelers 12-yard field goal by Gerela 0 3 1 Browns 43-yard field goal by Cockroft 3 3 1 Steelers Fuqua 4-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 3 10 2 Steelers 40-yard field goal by Gerela 3 13 2 Steelers 26-yard field goal by Gerela 3 16 3 Steelers 44-yard field goal by Gerela 3 19 4 Steelers Lewis 8-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw , Gerela kick good 3 26 4 Browns 28-yard field goal by Cockroft 6 26 4 Steelers Lewis 53-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good 6 33 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 6 33
Pittsburgh Steelers (2–0) at Houston Oilers (0–2)
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 3 3 13 17 36 Oilers 0 7 0 0 7
at Astrodome , Houston, Texas
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PIT HOU 1 Steelers 20-yard field goal by Gerela 3 0 2 Oilers Alston 7-yard touchdown reception from Pastorini , Butler kick good 3 7 2 Steelers 47-yard field goal by Gerela 6 7 3 Steelers Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick no good 12 7 3 Steelers Interception returned 45 yards for touchdown by Russell , Gerela kick good 19 7 4 Steelers Shanklin 26-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good 26 7 4 Steelers 26-yard field goal by Gerela 29 7 4 Steelers Interception returned 86 yards for touchdown by Edwards , Gerela kick good 36 7 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 36 7
Johnny Unitas playing for San Diego is knocked out of the game after completing only 3 of 15 passes for 24 yards and three interceptions.
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SD PIT 1 Steelers Shanklin 12-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw , Gerela kick good 0 7 1 Steelers Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 0 14 1 Steelers 38-yard field goal by Gerela 0 17 2 Steelers Davis 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 0 24 2 Steelers Blocked punt recovered in end zone for touchdown by Wagner , Gerela kick good 0 31 3 Steelers Shanklin 37-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good 0 38 4 Chargers LeVias 13-yard touchdown reception from Fouts , Wersching kick good 7 38 4 Chargers Jones 3-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 14 38 4 Chargers Holmes 1-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 21 38 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 21 38
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PIT CIN 1 Bengals 20-yard field goal by Muhlmann 0 3 1 Bengals 19-yard field goal by Muhlmann 0 6 2 Bengals 20-yard field goal by Muhlmann 0 9 3 Bengals Clark 3-yard touchdown run, Muhlmann kick good 0 16 4 Bengals 41-yard field goal by Muhlmann 0 19 4 Steelers Pearson 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 7 19 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 7 19
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NYJ PIT 1 Jets Riggins 1-yard touchdown run, Howfield kick good 7 0 2 Steelers 27-yard field goal by Gerela 7 3 2 Steelers 29-yard field goal by Gerela 7 6 2 Jets Caster 28-yard touchdown reception from Demory , Howfield kick good 14 6 2 Steelers 36-yard field goal by Gerela 14 9 3 Steelers 13-yard field goal by Gerela 14 12 4 Steelers Shanklin 16-yard touchdown reception from Hanratty , Gerela kick good 14 19 4 Steelers Harris 2-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good 14 26 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 14 26
Week 8 vs Washington Redskins [ edit ] Joe Gilliam makes Monday Night Football debut
Team Category Player Statistics Broncos Passing Charley Johnson 13/20, 86 Yds, TD Rushing Floyd Little 27 Rush, 88 Yds, TD Receiving Riley Odoms 6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD Steelers Passing Terry Hanratty 10/19, 217 Yds, TD Rushing Franco Harris 11 Rush, 53 Yds Receiving John McMakin 3 Rec, 64 Yds
1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 3 3 3 16 • Browns 7 7 0 7 21
Scoring drives:
1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 3 7 16 26 • Dolphins 20 10 0 0 30
Date: Monday, December 3Location: Miami Orange Bowl , Miami, Florida Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game attendance: 68,901Game weather: 75 F, wind 14 mph (23 km/h)Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith
Scoring drives:
1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 7 0 0 0 7 • Steelers 3 14 10 6 33
Scoring drives:
1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 7 7 13 10 37 49ers 0 7 0 7 14
John Brodie 's number 12 was retired prior to game.
Scoring drives:
Pittsburgh – Rowser 71 interception return (Gerela kick) – Steelers 7–0 San Francisco – Hall recovered blocked punt in end zone (Gossett kick) – Tie 7–7 Pittsburgh – P. Pearson 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 14–7 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 17–7 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 – Steelers 20–7 Pittsburgh – Lewis 50 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Steelers 27–7 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 35 – Steelers 30–7 Pittsburgh – Steve Davis 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 37–7 San Francisco – Atkins 3 run (Gossett kick) – Steelers 37–14 AFC Divisional: @ Oakland Raiders[ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 7 0 7 14 • Raiders 7 3 13 10 33
Date: Saturday, December 22Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CaliforniaGame start: 4 p.m. EST Game attendance: 52,646Game weather: 50 F, wind 11 mph (18 km/h)Referee: Pat HaggertyTV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Kyle Rote
Formerly the Pittsburgh Pirates (1933–1939)
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